Anustup Majumdar smashed an unbeaten century, while skipper Manoj Tiwary remained not out on a half-century as the two veterans bailed out Bengal to power the team to 242/4 against Assam on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group B match on Friday.
After Sourav Paul (12), Shreyansh Ghosh (13), Mohammad Kaif (2) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (10) were dismissed cheaply, Majumdar and Tiwary teamed up with an unbroken 185-run stand for the fifth wicket.
The 39-year-old was unbeaten on 120 from 197 balls with 16 fours, his second century of the season.
Tiwary, 39, took his time getting the runs, making 68 not out from 187 balls with seven fours.
In the process, the Bengal skipper completed 10,000 runs in the first-class cricket in his 18th and final season of his career.
Tiwary also became the the fourth from Bengal to complete the 10,000-club, joining an elite list of Pankaj Roy, Arun Lal and Sourav Ganguly.
Put in, Bengal got off to a watchful start with openers Ghosh and Paul playing cautiously.
But in the eighth over of the day, the home side got the breakthrough sending Ghosh back to the pavilion.
Promoted to No. 3, Kaif also fell followed by Paul as Bengal were reduced to 28/3 inside 14 overs.
Gharami also departed after getting off to good start to put the visitors in trouble at 57/4.
From there on, against the run of play, it was a one-way traffic as the two veterans took hold of the proceedings.
The duo played sensibly while also scoring runs on loose balls to remain unbeaten at the end of the day.
For Assam, seamer Mukhtar Hussain was the pick among the bowlers for Assam taking 2/36, while Riyan Parag and Dharani Rabha took one wicket apiece.
Andhra ride Vihari ton
At the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, India batter Hanuma Vihari struck at 243-ball 119 not out with 15 fours and three sixes, whereas skipper Ricky Bhui made 120 (201 balls, 14 fours) to push Andhra to a strong 277/4 against Chhattisgarh.
Vihari and Bhui put on 231 runs for the fourth wicket to put Andhra in a strong position on the opening day of the contest, with Chhattisgarh bowler Ravi Kiran returning 2/36.
In another match of the same group, a fine knock of 113 not out from Shreyas Gopal rescued visiting side Kerala against Bihar at the Moin Ul Haq Stadium.
Gopal made 113 not out from 196 balls with 17 fours and 16 to wage a lone battle for his side who were reduced to 203/1968 overs by the end of the play on the opening day.
Himanshu Singh was the most successful bowler for the home team Bihar as he returned 19-4-50-4 while Veer Pratap Singh took 3/26 from his 10 overs to create lot of troubles for the visiting side Kerala, who have one loss and two down games so far in the season.
Brief scores:
At Guwahati: Bengal 242/4; 78 overs (Anustup Majumdar 120 batting, Manoj Tiwary 68 batting; Mukhtar Hussain 2/36) vs Assam.
At Ranchi: Andhra 277/4; 90 overs (Hanuma Vihari 119 batting, Ricky Bhui 120; Ravi Kiran 2/36) vs Chhattisgarh.
At Patna: Kerala 203/9; 68 overs (Shreyas Gopal 113 batting, Akshay Chandran 37; Veer Pratap Singh 3/26, Himanshu Singh 4/50, Vipul Krishna 2/57) vs Bihar.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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